


Would you Kindly, Miss Scorpia?

by Arthur0098



Category: BioShock 1 & 2 (Video Games), She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: It's Bioshock...give it a chance, Minor Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra), Mystery, Rapture (BioShock), Season 5 Spoilers, Weirdest crossover I've ever written, Would You Kindly (BioShock), bear with me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:34:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24583123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arthur0098/pseuds/Arthur0098
Summary: Scorpia barely escaped from the underwater soiree, and nearly drowned in the process. She emerged into a blazing sea, in the midst of a plane wreck. A lighthouse shone out of the gloom, offering safety. She sought shelter inside, only to find a creepy mysterious statue, and a bathysphere.The depths of the sea hold many secrets. But never the kind you expect.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	Would you Kindly, Miss Scorpia?

Scorpia’s lungs burned for air, begging her to inhale, but the surface was still so far away. Only a few more meters…

She’d escaped from the underwater soiree alright, just when the environment ruptured. She wasn’t quite sure how she got so far to the surface, but at the moment she didn’t care.

She just...needed...to get...out!

The former Horde officer broke the surface of the water, gasping for air. Everything was shrouded in darkness, thousands of stars above her. One of the moons was out, and something was burning. There was a large fire nearby It smelled like gasoline.

There was debris all around her, chunks of the underwater facility drifted about. She scrambled to rest on one.

She caught her breath, and looked around.

A bunch of the debris didn’t look right. Something caught alight and threw shadows on a large metal tail, with a green light blinking on one end. It was slowly sinking into the waves.

“Whoa, guess someone crashed their plane…” Scorpia muttered, and paddled to get away from the flames.

She was safe for the moment, but stuck in the middle of the ocean in a ragged dress and…

A light beam swept overhead.

There was a lighthouse behind her. It stood tall out of the darkness and glistened in the moonlight. It was dark, almost sinister, built out of grey brick.

Scorpia paddled toward it eagerly, laughing at herself nervously. “Serves me right for not paying attention…”

The flames spread further from the remains of the plane behind her. She climbed out of the water and shook herself off.

The former Horde officer grimaced at her appearance. Her fancy outfit was pretty much ruined, she was soaked, and she didn’t have anything else to change into.

The flash of the lighthouse suddenly revealed an olive-drab backpack drifting by the shore. It looked familiar.

“Hey!” she exclaimed, and moved to pull it out of the water. It was hers alright, a pack she and the rest of the gang had brought to the Enchanted Grotto and checked at the entryway. The entryway must’ve been flooded too.

“Oh please don’t be ruined please don’t be ruined please--  _ yes _ !”

She opened the case and found her Horde uniform and some supplies inside, perfectly dry.

Scorpia looked around, and blushed a bit, but decided freedom of movement and dry clothes were more important than modesty.

It wasn’t like there were any people around.

She quickly changed into her uniform, then heaved her backpack onto her back. There had to be someone operating the lighthouse she could talk to. Maybe they’d even have a radio.

Scorpia walked toward the steps that lead up to the lighthouse. Strange, the stairs were well-made, smoothly-cut with brick. A number of large electric lights stood at the bottom and were interspersed on the way up to the entrance. One was damaged, knocked into the water and flickering.

There was an intersection halfway up. There were more electric lights. Someone had paid no expense building this place. But it was just a lighthouse. Strange.

She moved up to the entryway, a pair of big bronze doors that opened on a dark interior.

Scorpia hesitated, but a blow of cold wind made her shiver. She had to go in.

Before she did though, she noted the sky. The stars looked strange. And...why could she only see one moon?

She shook her head, “Don’t distract yourself, Scorpia!”

She stepped inside.

Suddenly the door swept shut as soon as she was through. “Hey--!”

Bright yellow lights switched on, with loud  _ clangs _ of relays that closed. They blinded her for a second.

“Yagh!” she yelped when her eyes cleared up.

A bronze statue towered over her, a bust of a man in a business suit. A red banner was hung under his disapproving expression, that read “NO GODS OR KINGS. ONLY MAN.”

Scorpia stood there frozen for a moment in shock.

“Uh...hello…?” she called out. She looked around the huge building. She hoped there would be somebody, but no one was in sight. No one but this statue. This  _ really _ creepy statue.

“Hello!” she called out. She stuck to the wall, and moved down the perimeter of the building.

There was still no answer. Her voice echoed through the place.

“Jeez…” she muttered aloud, “This place is creepy.”

At the back of the lighthouse, she found stairs that led not up, but  _ down _ . They were lit on the floor like that of a theater.

Scorpia slowly descended the staircase. “Hello? Is there anyone down here?”

More lights snapped on. The sounds echoed through the stairs. The stairs turned, and let down into an atrium of some kind. Pleasant violin music played. A large spherical bronze object took up most of the room.

Scorpia reached the ground and furrowed her brow.

“What’s a bathysphere doing in here?” she wondered, and scratched her head.

And a bathysphere it was. She’d seen wreckage in Salineas and read the reports. They were some kind of deep-sea vessel.

It stood with its transparent hatch wide open, with plush seats visible inside, and a control console in the center. Scorpia stepped inside. It was built like one of the Horde’s train cars, if it was more plush.

She realized it was similar to the elevator she’d taken down to the underwater lounge.

“Well, I don’t want to go down, I want to get out of here!”

It didn’t look as though there were any other choice though.

She sighed, and looked at the lever.

“Going down, I guess!” she said cheerfully, and pulled the lever.

The hatch shut. The entire vehicle shuddered, and descended into the water.

“Whoa! Look at all those bubbles!” Scorpia said to herself.

Lights flickered on, flickered off worryingly, then remained on. The gloom was lit up with stone panels on the opposite wall. A carving went by that read “ _ 10 fathoms _ ”.

Another went by, “ _ 18 fathoms _ ”.

Before anything else could appear, a screen dropped down and the lights dimmed.

An image appeared. It took Scorpia a moment to realize it was a silhouette of the lighthouse.

Pleasant music played, and an advertisement appeared. A woman held a cigarette for a man to light with fire that came from his fingertip.

A cheesy tagline appeared, “ _ Fire at your fingertips! Incinerate plasmids by Ryan Industries _ ".

“Huh?” Scorpia muttered.

It winked out to be replaced with a still of a man sitting at a desk. Appropriately, “From the desk of Andrew Ryan” was written at the side.

“ _ I am Andrew Ryan, and I am here you ask you a question. _ ” the man said, “ _ Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? _ ”

A cartoon of a farmer out in the field as he wiped the sweat from his face appeared briefly.

“...’ _ No’, says the man in Washington, ‘it belongs to the poor’, _ ” Ryan said, as an image of a man being terrorized by a giant bird appeared.

Scorpia was taken aback.

The image changed to that of the same sort of man beseeching a giant hand in the sky, “‘ _ No’, says the man in the Vatican, ‘it belongs to god’. _ ”

Scorpia quirked her mouth skeptically.

“ _ ‘No’, says the man in Moscow, ‘it belongs to everyone. _ ’” an image of a man being tormented by a hammer and sickle was displayed.

Ryan’s hatred and spite came through in every syllable.

“ _ I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose... Rapture! _ ”

  
  


The screen dropped away to reveal the sea beyond. The bathysphere slowly rose over an underwater hill to reveal a dazzling  _ underwater city _ .

Scorpia pushed her face to the glass, and looked around in shock. It was huge, sprawling, with skyscrapers far more aesthetically appealing than that of the Horde. There were advertisements, names, all sorts of things on the buildings. Fish, squid, and whales swam around the city. Lights swept back and forth. Long transparent corridors connected the buildings.

“Whoa!” Scorpia said, enraptured by Rapture.

“ _ A city where the artist would not fear the censor _ ,” Ryan’s narration continued on, “ _ Where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality. Where the great would not be constrained by the small! _ “

The submersible turned, and more surprises were revealed. An even larger city than she’d anticipated. As it passed one of the transparent corridors, Scorpia saw a large figure in a strange suit welding a leak.

Whalesong, and the originating whale, drew Scorpia’s attention. She’d never seen a whale this close up!

“Who are these guys? How have we not heard about them?” Scorpia demanded of herself. Not even force captain orientation talked about this.

“ _ And with the sweat of your brow, Rapture can become your city as well. _ " Ryan’s narration finished.

  
  


The submersible continued on, and Scorpia called out various sights and sounds to herself. “Ooh, giant squid! I’m staying away from that. Hey, a casino! Whatever that is! Oh neat, music!”

  
  


Soon though, a radio mounted by the door she hadn’t noticed crackled with faint voices.

“... _ all lit up like hellfire! Looks like some kind of...plane crash. _ ” a male speaker said.

“ _ We’re...middle of the Atlantic ocean! How could it? _ ” another voice spoke.

The bathysphere seemed to be approaching a destination. There was a port with a number of rings just ahead of it that were sized for the vehicle.

“ _...I dunno, but you’d better get on with it. _ ” the first speaker said, “ _ and be quick about it! _ ”

Lights around a phrase lit up on the first ring as the sphere approached it. “ _ All good things _ ”.

“... _ The  _ splicers _ are coming. _ ” the first male speaker said, his voice filled with dread.

“ _ You gotta be kidding _ !” the second cried.

“ _ Of this Earth _ ” was another phrase, as the sphere passed through the first ring..

“Earth?” Scorpia muttered to herself.

“... _ someone’s even coming?! _ ” the second demanded, his radio squelched out the first part of the sentence.

“ _ Flow _ ” was the single word on the next ring.

“ _ Cuz we’ve got a bathysphere on the way down. That means we’ve got company. _ ” the first speaker said firmly.

The last phrase was “ _ into this city _ ”. It flickered and died just as the sphere went by.

The sphere entered the docking port, and settled into some sort of cradle. Scorpia could dimly make out advertisements for more strange products. The cradle lifted the bathysphere up, up, and up.

" _ Just one more minute... sphere! Sphere's coming up now _ !" The second speaker, his voice filled with anxiety said.

" _ Johnny, security's banging off all over, get a move on!" _ Said the first in earnest.

The sphere emerged into a dark building, which may have once been beautiful.

A carpeted pathway led away from the sub, and two figures were visible on it.

One was backing toward the sphere, in terror of the first.

Lights flickered, and dimly revealed the figures.

"... _ just don't hurt me. Please, just let me go! You can keep my gun, you can--!" _

The flickering lights revealed rusted hooks in the second figure's grip.

Without hesitation they attacked the first, driving the blades into his gut. He cried out and gurgled with pain.

At that moment Scorpia rammed her shoulder into the window. With two blows it collapsed, and let out a huge burst of pressurized air. The air blew the second figure back before they could finish the job on the first, and they stared at Scorpia in shock.

"Someone new!" They cried in a woman's voice, and jumped back into the dark before Scorpia could attack.

She made sure the enemy was far enough away, or at least out of view, before she went to look at the victim.

The young man choked and coughed, holding his wounds with both hands. They were covered with blood.

" _ Johnny! Johnny!" _ His radio crackled.

  
  


"Oh no, oh jeez! Oh…" Scorpia cried, and moved her claws around. She couldn't figure out any way to help him.

He looked up at her with pleading eyes.

"Ah...keep pressure on the wound, I'll…" she looked around, and stuck her head in the bathysphere. She couldn't find a medical kit anywhere.

She went back to the poor man, and crouched. "Oh...I'm sorry, fella. I…"

He looked at her, and smiled weakly.

" _ Thank you… _ " he whispered. His head went limp.

She grimaced, and closed her eyes. It never got easier.

  
  


A voice spoke from nearby. The radio!

“ _ Would you kindly pick up that shortwave radio? _ ”

Scorpia stuck her head inside the sphere, looked around, and spotted the device that was speaking. She pulled it out of its cradle, clipped it to her belt, and stuck the earpiece in her ear, “Testing, testing, one two three, one two three…”

The man's voice on the other side spoke with an odd accent, “ _ I don't know how you survived that plane crash, but I've never been one to question Providence. I'm Atlas, and I aim to keep you alive. _ "

Scorpia looked out the remains of the window, "uh...thank you! I'm Scorpia. Boy, I sure would appreciate some help right now.'

The line didn’t respond for a moment, “... _ excuse me...miss? Is that a lass in there? _ "

"Ah, yes sir! I have no idea where I am, I have no idea what I'm doing, and I would greatly appreciate some assistance. Over!" Scorpia replied cheerfully.

Again a pause. " _ A lass...who would send a lass down here? Miss, how many people are in there? _ "

Scorpia looked around the small compartment, "just me, Mr. Atlas. So...can you help me get out of here?"

" _ Right! Sorry miss, we're going to have to get you to higher ground! _ "

The damaged frame of the sphere opened unnecessarily. Whatever this Atlas guy was using to observe her probably couldn't see it.

" _ Now take a deep breath, and step _ \--"

She'd already emerged from the sphere, and looked around in the gloom of the facility. It must have been beautiful once.

"Already out. What about that thing I saw? It got your friend."

" _ Right. Lass, we're going to have to draw her out of hiding, but you're going to have to trust me! _ "

"I can do that!"

Scorpia rushed across the walkway to the stairs, running up and taking a left.

She could hear the whispers of the creature, or person, in the gloom.

" _Just a bit further…"_ Atlas muttered over the radio, and Scorpia skidded to a halt. The enemy combatant was near, somewhere ahead in the dark.

From above and behind Scorpia, a green spotlight snapped on. It revealed the exit to the facility, partially collapsed...and the enemy.

The creature...woman...whatever she was, was dead-center. She had a horrific appearance, covered in dried blood, stained dark clothing, and carried two rusted hooks. She shrieked and put her hands to her eyes.

“Whoa!” Scorpia cried.

Something flew out of the dark from behind Scorpia, with a sound like a giant bee. It was a box-shaped machine with a pair of rotors on top, and a machine gun attached. It hammered away at the target of the spotlight, who caught one in the leg, but was able to leap back into the shadows, then up onto the wall.

“ _ How d’you like  _ that _ , sister?! _ ” Atlas shouted triumphantly over the radio, then added, “ _ Now, Miss, would you kindly find a crowbar or something? _ ”

Scorpia was already moving forward to the doorway. She raised an eyebrow at the request, but he asked so  _ nicely _ …

She found a pipe wrench lying on the ground near the collapsed entryway. She studied it, shrugged, then put it in her belt.

The doorway was blocked, but not entirely. Scorpia went to work clearing the path.

“ _ Bloody splicers sealed Johnny in, before they-- they-- _ ”

The radio went silent for a long moment.

“Goddamn  _ splicers! _ ”

Scorpia halted in her work, and picked up the transmitter, “I’m sorry about your friend, I really am. I tried to get through that door, but…”

She looked sadly at the camera behind her, “I’m sorry.”

The radio didn’t respond.

“Mr. Atlas?” she asked quietly, “Are you okay?”

“ _ Yes… _ ” he said hoarsely, “ _ I...miss, that is you looking at the camera, isn’t it? _ ”

Scorpia nodded, smiled, then gave a little wave to the camera, “Yep! Princess Scorpia at your service!”

“ _ A...princess? Did I hear you right? _ ”

“Yes sir!”

There were echoes from further down the hallway beyond the blockage. Scorpia turned and peered into it.

“...and I’d really appreciate it if you’d help me out. No rush, just uh...okay maybe a lot of rush.”

“ _ Right. Keep moving. _ ”

She passed through the doorway, and saw an ornate stairway a few yards ahead. And something brightly lit at the top.

Was it on fire?

The figure at the top of the stairs kicked the flaming couch down the stairs. It tumbled down, narrowly avoiding Scorpia. She rushed to the top and looked around. 

The room looked like some sort of welcome area, with huge windows that lead to the outside, and a hatch on the opposite side. 

A figure stood in the shadows, breathing heavily, silhouetted against a window. He had a pipe in his hand.

" _ Lass, what's going on? _ " The radio crackled.

"Just a second, I think I met someone!"

Scorpia waved a bit, "uh...hey there! It's safe, you can come out now! Don't know how you mistook me for the hook hand lady, but I can understand, accidents happen…"

She trailed off as the figure emerged into clear light. He was disfigured, his clothes ruined and a bloodstained masquerade mask on his face. He raised his pipe and roared an incoherent battle cry.

Scorpia simply reached out to grab his face with her claws and held him at arm's length, "whoa, easy there guy! I'm friendly!"

The foe struggled and swiped ineffectually at her torso with his pipe, shrieking and roaring.

"Wow, you're  _ definitely  _ hopped up on  _ something _ …" she grimaced, "poor guy. I'm here to help you, just calm down!"

" _ Lass, what's going on?!" _ Atlas demanded.

"Help?! I don't need no handouts!" The drugged up man cried, and continued to swipe at her ineffectually.

"Found somebody, looks like he got a bunch of drugs or something--!"

" _ You've got a splicer?! What-- lass, would you  _ kindly  _ use a goddamn crowbar or something and _ \--"

Scorpia pulled the wrench out of her belt, shrugged, and gently tossed it at the splicer.

The blow knocked him to the ground. He banged his head against a wall and clattered loudly as he fell.

She didn't know why she picked it up in the first place.

" _ You can't reason with them, lass! They're dangerous, you hear? _ ”

Scorpia looked down at the unconscious man, and frowned sadly.

She looked around the room. The windows on the opposite side of the room gave a spectacular view of the city. There were stairs to either side that lead up to a balcony. An advertisement of some kind played from above.

The hatch on the opposite side was shut.

“ _ Ah, nuts. The hatch is sealed. The switch is broken. You gotta find the nearest plasmid dispenser. _ ”

“Nearest what dispenser?”

“ _ Ah, look for the signs with ‘plasmid’ on them. You’re going to need to inject one. Just trust me, and everything will be fine. With a fistful of lightning-- _ "

"Huh? What are you--? Oh, I don't need anything like that…"

Atlas paused, " _ miss the door to that area is pretty bang on shut. Just trust me, I'm not playing about here! I mean  _ literal  _ lightning. You're going to need _ \--"

Scorpia spotted the malfunctioning door control, and shook her head, "I was trying to tell you no thanks, I’ve got my own!"

She spotted the malfunctioning door control, and with some buildup, shot a bolt of red lightning into the switch.

" _ Whoa! I could see that from the cameras in the next buildin' over! Wha...what did you--? _ "

"I said I already had lighting! I'm a princess you know!" She said, walking out into the hallway.

" _ Right, and that explains everything, does it _ ?"

"Eh, pretty much." Scorpia smiled.

Suddenly she gasped.

" _ Lass? You alright? Lass! _ "

The hallway was transparent, She looked out at the ocean around her, the life lit up by the city, the piece of airplane drifting toward her--

Wait.

She jumped back just as a huge piece of airplane collided with the corridor. It tore through, spraying water through the compartment. Scorpia quickly scrambled about, trying to find a way through, but it had taken the whole compartment. She took a deep breath and climbed into the rapidly-flooding tail section.

An emergency hatch still glowed in the back of the plane, and she realized it could lead to the other side.

With water still spraying over her, she hopped out down to the deck and ran through the flooding corridor.

The floor of the corridor turned into that of a waterslide. Seams in the walls burst all around her. The ground shook as something exploded in a tunnel opposite her own, and she turned the corner to the right.

The door to the next building was just ahead. The water continued to climb.

“Oh no, oh no…!” Scorpia muttered to herself, and stuck to the opposite wall when she passed a door to her left. It was connected to the destroyed corridor. It deformed and groaned, with huge water pressure behind it.

Dying fish of all things lay on the small set of stairs that led up to the hatch. They leapt up and down, choking and spluttering, but she could waste no time.

The door’s wheel spun, and she entered the next building. When the door shut, she went onto her knees, panting breathlessly.

“Mr. Atlas…” she gasped, “I made it!”

“ _ You all right, Lass? Damn place is falling apart. _ ”

“I’m fine, I just...hoo, I need to run more!”

The building was poorly-lit. On the opposite wall was another door with a dimly-lit red “ _ airlock active _ ” sign above it. She was in an airlock, obviously. A rather lavish one. There were alcoves to either side with two sets of stairs down into them, or perhaps waiting areas, with plush seating. There were large walls separating the alcoves from the main walkway and obscured too much. It made Scorpia nervous.

Some of the area around her was cracked as well. Water poured into alcoves to either side of her, but it wasn’t in danger of flooding anytime soon. 

“ _ Take a few deep breaths, Miss Scorpia, but be careful. You don’t want to get yourself hurt. _ ”

Scorpia nodded, “I’m...fine, I...hoo...sorry...I’ll be careful.”

The opposite door opened, and a figure darted in. They disappeared into one of the side areas. Something on them glowed with the embers of fire.

“ _ Splicer! _ ” Atlas cried, “ _ Give em a combo! Zap em, then whack em! The one-two punch! Remember, the one-two punch! _ ”

“I don’t need to do anything fancy,” Scorpia replied with a grin, “watch this!”

She stepped back to the rear alcove staircase, and waited.

When something moved in the darkness, she stuck out her arm.

The splicer hurtled at full speed into her arm.

“Yes!” Scorpia cried.

“ _ Lass, the one-two punch! _ ”

“I think he hit his head, trust me, he’s--”

The splicer groaned, and got up again.

Scorpia raised an eyebrow, and punched him in the chest. He fell back, but got up again.

“ _ The one-two punch I said! _ ”

Scorpia’s eyes widened.

“Oh. Right. He’s hopped up on something.”

The splicer came at her again, and Scorpia whipped around. Her tail shot out.

“ _ Lass, the camera can’t see what you’re doing. What happened? Are you all right? _ ”

Scorpia winced, and looked down at the splicer, “Oh, jeez, I hope that didn’t mess him up anymore…”

“ _ Lass? Miss Scorpia? _ ”

She touched her headset, “I got him, don’t worry! Just had to sting him a bit!”

She glanced down at the unconscious splicer, “...hope there aren’t any nasty side effects.”

“ _ Sting him? What? _ ”

“You know, with my tail!” Scorpia said, as she walked toward the airlock door.

“ _ Christ, I forgot…that actually works? _ ”

“Yep!”

She opened the door, and found nothing on the other side. There was only a large staircase.

“ _ So...lass...you  _ are _ a lass right? _ ”

Scorpia furrowed her brow and touched her headset, “Yeah. Of course. Why do you ask?”

“ _ Oh, it’s just...I haven’t seen many women with your...physique, or that hair or...I mean...don’t you miss...y’know… _ ”

“What?”

“ _ Don’t you miss being a woman? _ ”

Scorpia furrowed her brow, genuinely confused, “Um...what? What does that mean?”

“ _ I mean it’s just not very traditional...not that I’m complaining, I… _ ”

He paused for a moment.

“Mr. Atlas?” Scorpia asked.

“ _ What the hell, who am I complaining? _ ”

Scorpia emerged out into a lobby much like that of a fancy hotel, or an apartment building. Not that Scorpia had ever seen one that wasn’t co-opted by the Horde or overgrown ruins.

This one was relatively intact. Relatively.

There were rows of pretty plants, and huge banners hanging from the walls. There were two elevators to either side opposite the hatch. A burning elevator car crashed down to the ground level.

Scorpia moved forward cautiously, and entered an automatic door that separated the elevators from the rest of the chamber.

She was just in time to see a figure on fire emerge from the wreckage. “I just wanted some company!” he howled.

Despite being actually on fire, he found the strength to swing his wrench back and forth, waving it at anything that moved. Scorpia took a few steps back.

She couldn’t hit this one. She charged up a bolt of lightning, and sent him to the ground.

She averted her eyes and walked to the functional elevator. The ground trembled as the gate closed, and the lift shuddered to life.

Her radio whined, and Atlas spoke, “ _ Listen, I’ve got a family. I need to get them out of here. But the splicers have cut me off from them. _ ”

As the elevator climbed, Scorpia saw where the flames had started. One of the elevator stops was on a balcony. The elevator end of the balcony was on fire. Opposite the elevator a man pounded on a closed door as if he were drunk.

She listened to Atlas’ voice with intent.

He sounded desperate, pleading, “ _ If you can reach them in Neptune’s Bounty then maybe-- just maybe… _ ”

He sighed, “ _ I know you must feel like the unluckiest girl in the world right now, but you’re the only hope I’ll ever see my wife and child again. Go to Neptune’s Bounty. Find my family...please. _ ”

Scorpia’s eyes were wide, her face sympathetic, “Don’t worry, Mr. Atlas. I’ll get your family out. They’re in safe claws with me! A princess never abandons innocent people!”

There was a pause, “ _ Thank you, lass. Thank you. _ ”

  
  


The elevator kept moving. And there was silence.

She walked out onto the landing on a once-beautiful area. The eerie glow of the city and the ocean came through a transparent roof. There was debris strewn about, and far below Scorpia could see a woman tending to a stroller. She was rambling on and on about something. Scorpia couldn’t make it out, the splicer woman was sobbing so much.

Scorpia’s eyes widened as she realized the stroller did not hold a baby, but instead a massive revolver. The woman had completely lost her mind.

Scorpia pushed the transmit button on her radio, and quickly walked toward a nearby doorway, “So...Mr. Atlas, what exactly happened here? I’ve never heard of Rapture before. Looks like this place has been through a war.”

“ _ Plasmids happened. _ ” Atlas growled.

“Huh?”

“ _ Plasmids changed everything. They destroyed our bodies, our minds. We couldn't handle it. Best friends butchering one another, babies strangled in cribs. The whole city went to hell. _ ”

“Oh my gosh…” Scorpia said. She walked into the remains of a restaurant. Celebrations for “ _ New Years 1959 _ ” were scattered all over the place, including a large neon sign. It was in ruins, as was everything else.

She realized it was some sort of central hall for a variety of different establishments, from theaters to restaurants and a few stores.

She averted her eyes from the bloodstains and bodies and touched the transmitter, “I’m sorry you had to go through this, Mr. Atlas. It sounds like a nightmare. I’m so sorry. Don’t worry, I’ll get your family out, and I can take you somewhere safe.”

She hoped. The rebellion was running out of safe places. If an underwater city wasn’t safe, was it safe anywhere?

Scorpia paused, “Hey, Mr. Atlas, what are plasmids?”

There was a pause.

“ _ What was that, lass? _ ”

“What are plasmids? I’ve been seeing ads for them all over the place...sorry, if it’s a problem, I was just curious.”

" _ Ah...do you have a different term for them? _ "

"Well, can you describe them?”

“ _ They use ADAM, the chemical to rewrite genetic material. _ ”

“Huh. I've never seen anything like them before."

Atlas paused.

" _ Miss...they're what gave you your lightning powers. _ "

Scorpia stopped. "No, that would be the Black Garnet…"

" _ The what? Miss, where are you from? I mean, I suppose I can understand if you haven't heard of Rapture, but how can you exist if not for plasmids? _ "

"I...had...parents?" Scorpia asked, "I don't get it, Mr Atlas."

" _ Where are you from, miss? _ "

"Wel, originally from the Fright Zone..."

" _ So...the Soviet Union? I don't know who else might be able to get ahold of plasmid technology _ \--"

"No no, just the Fright Zone." Scorpia said, "what's the Soviet Union?"

" _ What's the Fright Zone _ ?"

"Seriously?" She asked, without a hint of sarcasm, "Oh, uh...you know, huge industrial sprawl, red everywhere, terrifying army everyone is afraid will conquer the world…"

" _ That still sounds like the Soviet Union, miss. _ ”

“Maybe you have a different name for it?” Scorpia shrugged, “Where are  _ you _ from, Mr. Atlas?”

“ _ Ireland, originally. I lived in New York most of my life before I came here. _ ”

He paused. “ _ Bloody awful decision. Me wife, Moira: she’s a right pain in the neck. But she's a beauty and she means the world to me. I can't help but feel God’s punishing me for bringing her and Patrick to this place. I thought this would be a better life for us. Can you imagine a bigger fool than that? _ ”

“Well, you couldn’t have known, could you? Trust me, my grandfather had no idea what he was going to put me through when he turned our land over to Lord Hordak.” Scorpai said sympathetically, “Don’t blame yourself.”

“ _ You’re very kind, miss. _ ”

Scorpia grinned, “Thanks. I give great hugs too. And I probably owe you one.”

She paused, “...also, I have no clue where  _ any _ of those places are.”

Atlas didn’t respond immediately.

“ _ Maybe you should keep moving, miss, would you kindly? We’ve got a lot of ground to cover. _ ”

Scorpia blinked. She noted what a polite man he was.

She nodded, “Roger that. Don’t worry, Mr. Atlas, your family will be safe!”


End file.
